Ramblings From Justin Penney

To commemorate John Corn's birthday we staged a tour of the Boulevard Brewery.

Boulevard prides themselves on being the second largest brewery in Missouri. This is a pretty big feat considering that the largest is Anheuser-Busch. Our tour guide (whose name I can not remember) said that it take the mighty A-B only seven hours to match Boulevard's annual production.

On our honeymoon, my wife and I toured the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis. It was so large that I felt disconnected from the process of brewing. While the steps were the same as when I homebrew, the scale made it hard to attach a connection. The Boulevard setup was just the opposite. The original brew house makes perfect sense to me. The mash tun to the lauter tun to the brew pot. It was very clear and able to be viewed in one eyeful. Sure, the freaking enormous fermentation tanks are a far cry from a carboy and an airlock, but the principle was so easy and clear to see.

Like anything involving beer, the tasting was the best part! Excepting the excellent Maibach, I had tasted every beer they had on tap within the last week. I had no surprises, but still enjoyed the beer. I have now tasted every boulevard brew except for the Saison. I will be buying a bottle of that later this week.

The best part of the tour was hanging out with a great group of friends while drinking good beers from tiny glasses.

For more photos, head on to my Boulevard Tour Gallery.

# posted by Justin @ 9:10 PM